


The Question Before the Question

by AddyEZ



Series: All the Questions Jack Had to Ask [1]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Blessing For Marriage, Drabble, Drinking, Exasperated Davey, F/M, Nervous Jack, Post-Canon, Pulitzer is a Jerk, Song fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-04-05 04:39:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19041304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AddyEZ/pseuds/AddyEZ
Summary: Jack loves Katherine. They’ve been dating for two years, and he’s ready to tie the knot. Until Davey tells Jack that he should get Pulitzer’s blessing.Inspired by the song “Rude” by MAGIC!





	The Question Before the Question

**Author's Note:**

> I heard the song Rude, by MAGIC! and I instantly thought, “OMG, this would totally be what would happen when Jack had to ask Pulitzer for his blessing.” So I wrote it in less than 2 hours and posted with only a spell check. Enjoy!
> 
> (All credit for the song Rude, including the lyrics that are inserted, go to the band MAGIC!)

The hustle and bustle of the New York City streets roared in Jack’s ears and dodged a wagon that was passing him. He didn’t dare muse his best suit, the one he’d been carefully saving for this day. Jack and Katherine had been courting for almost two years. After the strike had ended, they’d started courting secretly as Katherine worked as the top journalist for the Sun and Jack worked for the World doing political cartoons. He’d only worked there for a few months before accepting a job offer from the Journal to work as a political cartoonist, gleefully grabbing the opportunity to not work under Pulitzer anymore. He’d rented an apartment that he shared with Racetrack and Crutchie, not far from the Newsboys Lodging House (which he still visited frequently) and Katherine’s apartment (which was his second home). As Jack weaved through the streets, he thought back to the conversation him and Davey had had a few days back.

_Jack was reclining against Davey’s bed on the floor. Davey was back from whatever hoity toity college he went to for the weekend and they may have been drinking. “Hey Davey,” Jack laughed. Even though he was slightly intoxicated, he knew he’d wanted to ask Davey about this for weeks. “Do you thinks I should marry Ace?”_

_“Jack, everyone thinks you should marry Katherine. Les has sworn to be a bachelor the rest of his life and even he thinks you should marry her.” Davey was reclining on his bed, staring at the cracked ceiling._

_“Her folks don’t,” Jack admitted. “Pulitzer’s hated me since I left the Woild.”_

_Davey turned and looked to Jack, shocked. “You lead a strike against him and you only thought he hated you now? What’d he say when you asked if Katherine can marry you?”_

_“Davey, you drank a little too much,” Jack turned to face Davey. “I’se gotta ask Kath if she can marry me, not Pulitzer.”_

_Davey dropped his face into his hands. “You didn’t ask Mr. Pulitzer for his blessing?”_

_“What do I need that for?” Jack squawked. “We’se both adults!”_

_“It’s tradition Jack! You dress nice, go to his house and ask for Katherine’s hand in marriage. If he says yes, then you can ask Katherine.”_

_Jack scoffed. “Ace don’t care bout that old fashioned stuff. You’se should know that.”_

_“It doesn’t matter if she cares about it, you don’t even have to tell her you asked if you don’t want to. The point is, if you get his blessing you guys can actually have a nice wedding instead of just going to the courthouse.”_

_After a moment of silence, Jack leaned back on the floor and groaned. “Fine,” he mumbled. “I’ll ask him before the week’s out.”_

Jack stared up at the mansion sprawled before him. He straightened his jacket, wishing he could rip it off in this sweltering 88 degrees weather before knocking of the thick oak door. A moment later, the door was opened by a man in a black. “Hey, I’se,” he stopped and cleared his throat. “I’m here to see Mr. Pulitzer please.”

The servant looked him up and down, pausing on his paint and ink stained hands before meeting his eyes. “And who might you be?”

“Jack Kelly, his daughter’s boyfriend. I want to ask him something.” Jack pulled the newsies cap off his head. He couldn’t break the habit of wearing it, but Katherine had recently started gently telling him it was respectful to remove it indoors. It was worth a shot.

With a wrinkle of his nose, the servant let Jack into the foyer before leading him to a small sitting room. “Please, wait here while I get Mr. Pulitzer,” he said in a nasally voice. “And don’t touch anything.” Jack rolled his eyes as the servant left, tapping the side of a clock. Hey, he still had his rebellious habits.

A moment later, the door opened and Pulitzer walked in. “Jack Kelly,” he boomed. “Didn’t think I would be seeing you around here anymore, not since you left the World.”

Jack bit back a sarcastic remark as he took a deep breath. “Sir, I wanted to ask you something.”

Pulitzer slowly lit a cigar as he relaxed into a maroon couch. Jack still stood. “I don’t suppose you’re still… courting my daughter, if you can call it that.”

“I am sir. And I wanted to ask you something…” With a deep breath, Jack gathered his nerves before blurting out the question. “Can I have your daughter for the rest of my life?”

“What?”

“Can I marry Katherine? Say yes, say yes, ‘cause I need to know.”

“Stop.” Pulitzer glared at Jack. “You’re asking for my daughter’s hand in marriage?”

Jack took a deep breath. Here was the moment of truth. “Yes Sir.”

Pulitzer’s laugh bounced off the walls. Jack glanced at him hopefully until he said, “You’ll never get my blessing until the day I die.”

“Sir, I promise you, I can provide for her. With both our salaries-”

Pulitzer stood. “No married daughter of mine will be working.”

“I can provide for her-”

“Not as well as I or any other reputable man could.”

“I love-”

“And you think marriage is only about love?”

“Sir, please, can I marry Katherine?” Jack begged.

“No.”

Jack broke. He couldn’t imagine living without Katherine at his side, holding his hand, helping him through. So he let go. “You’se can love me or hate me, but we will be both standing at that alter! Or we’se will run away! Ta Santa Fe! You know she's in love with me, she’ll go anywhere I go.”

“You may not marry my daughter!”

Jack turned towards the door before turning back at him and grinned. He pulled his hat out of his pocked and slapped it on his head. “Tough luck my friend, my answer is no. I’m gonna marry her anyways.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If anyone is interested in actually seeing Jack propose to Katherine, I’d be interested in writing that just let me know. Please review and leave kudos!


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